Burkett: Spin and Win at Mid-Ohio
Lexington, OH – After starting from pole in the eighth round of the Atlantic Championship Series, Daniel Burkett spun out of the lead. The points leader was relegated to third spot, falling some five seconds behind. But the K-Hill Motorsport driver wasted no time in passing Jimmy Simpson and then Ethan Ringel to take his sixth win on the season, resetting the track record along the way.
“I got loose in turn five and spun the car, but I’m happy that K-Hill gave me a car good enough to set the track record and get the lead back for the win,” said the Canadian, in the No. 4 Swift 016/Mazda for K-Hill Motorsports. Burkett laid down hot lap after lap, resetting the track record multiple times with lap 11 being the best. The new Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course track record for Atlantic Championship Series is 1:16.352.
The Championship is Burkett’s to lose as the field heads for the season finale on Labor Day weekend at the new Thompson Speedway circuit in Connecticut. He is quite close to have the Championship wrapped up, but there is still some room for Atlantic Creations’ Jimmy Simpson to take the Championship from Burkett.
Ethan Ringel, returned to the Mid-Ohio podium on Sunday, taking the second place position as he did on Saturday. “It’s really nice to be stringing together these podiums after previous electrical issues. I’m looking for a double win at the season finale in Thompson so watch out”, said the COMPREP driver.
Saturday’s winner, Jimmy Simpson, started third and finished in the same spot. He made it up to second when Burkett spun, but Burkett quickly got on his tail. After a few laps Burkett had gained the position over Simpson and started to hunt down Ringel. Simpson had two clean, well driven races at Mid-Ohio saying, “I have to thank the guys for a good car this weekend. We were a bit off this race with some electrical issues to work out, but hats off to Daniel, he was very impressive today”.
The top three separated from the rest of the 18 Atlantic car group early in the race, and left a tight battle for fourth. Keith Grant, driving the Polestar Swift 016, Conner Kearby of K-Hill, and Matt Miller, COMPREP teammate to Ringel, battled for fourth. Grant was able to grab the lead and maintain it, creating a gap between himself and the other two. Grant finished fourth, and Miller bested Kearby for fifth.
Among the battles going on in the field, was the Atlantic Challenge top three, who finished consecutively in eighth, ninth, and tenth. Dwight Rider, driving for Front Range Motorsports, and his Ralt 014 made their first visit to the podium in Sunday’s race. Rider was followed by Tyler Hunter, of Swan Racing, and Lewis Cooper Jr. of Lochmoor Promotions.
Hunter blew his engine during the morning’s qualifying session and it was unsure if he would be participating in the race. His Swan Racing team was able to pull off the engine replacement during the lunch period, and Hunter took the Green with the rest of the field.
Bruce Crockett, another K-Hill Motorsports driver, also had engine issues, blowing his during the race. Conner Burke of Company Motorsports had a race incident with Swan Motorsports driver Michael Mallinen. Both ran off the track, but were able to make it back on. Burke joined the rest of the field, Mallinen wasn’t as lucky and retired to the paddock.
The completion of the Atlantic Championship Series will be Labor Day Weekend at Thompson Speedway with rounds nine and ten.
Race Results:
PosNo.NameLapsBest TmMake/ModelDiff 1 4 Daniel Burkett 20 1:16.352 Swift 016 Mazda - 2 49 Ethan Ringel 20 1:17.696 Swift 016 Mazda +8.018 3 21 Jimmy Simpson 20 1:17.746 Swift 016 Mazda +15.589 4 40 Keith Grant 20 1:18.612 Swift 016 Mazda +31.474 5 82 Matt Miller 20 1:19.203 Swift 016 Mazda +38.961 6 56 Conner Kearby 20 1:18.787 Swift 016 Mazda +39.141 7 69 Gaston Kearby 20 1:20.143 Swift 016 Mazda +1:06.540 8 11 Dwight Rider 20 1:19.912 Ralt Rt-41Toyota +1:08.406 9 22 Tyler Hunter 20 1:20.420 Swift 014 Toyota +1:10.470 10 70 Lewis Cooper, Jr. 20 1:19.343 Swift 014 Toyota +1:14.288 11 55 John Burke 19 1:21.514 Swift 014 Toyota 1 Lap 12 17 Bob Corliss 19 1:21.760 Swift 014 Toyota +1.437 13 09 J.R. Smart 19 1:24.749 Swift 014 Toyota +48.925 14 2 Mark Felsen 18 1:25.310 Swift 014 Toyota 2 Laps 15 66 Richard Zober 18 1:21.032 Swift 016 Mazda +51.935 16 19 Connor Burke 15 1:19.681 Swift 014 Toyota 5 Laps 17 5 Bruce Crockett 11 1:21.385 Swift 014 Toyota 9 Laps DNF 71 Michael Mallinen 3 1:31.837 Swift 016 Mazda 17 Laps